[Show Review]

John Doe

Saturday, 8/25/07
Safari Sam’s

Lone
Los Duggans
Dead Rock West
John Doe

by Antoine Perkins

The night began with lusty bar band, Lone. They opened the show with a solo acoustic set that seemed more like a spot sound check than a performance. Guitarist, bartender, and frontman, Tim O., seemed unfazed as the venues P.A. system oozed cracks of feedback as he played. Finally the rest on the band joined Tim onstage, warming up the sparse crowd with their own brand of stompy, punk-fed rock. They seemed highly into their masculine vibe. Clearly they enjoyed playing, yet didn’t seem to care whether anyone paid attention. Mostly their performance was static.

Their movement about the stage was not taken advantage of. Their sound was cookie-cutter. However, they seemed to love themselves and knew whatever happened they were a success for gracing the stage. I spoke with Tim O’ who tends the bar. He was friendly and didn’t put up any fronts, as my girlfriend had encountered with nearly everyone else that night. The crowd was dressed to kill in western boots, and patented leather belts. They were serious about Doe.
Next up was Los Duggans. They fuck’n rocked. This four piece ripped into a blistering set with their own brand of whiskey-fueled bluegrass, meets thrash. Immediately you could see that they had a sense of humor by their crude homemade instruments. They also managed to play these instruments in a way that brought out sounds you would not expect. Their set featured throat singing, and songs about the nightmare in Iraq. Lead singer, Whiskey, slung a broomhandle bass. It was constructed of a steel washbasin, string, and yes, a broomhandle. It was struck with a mallet with duct tape on the end. He styled a grey garden glove for “super” grip on the handle.
Banjo player, Skillet also played steel guitar and brought out as he stated a “Mississippi saxaphone. Their lyrics were focused on the plight of the workin’ man. Never, had I heard banjo sound so sweet. Guitarist, “da Moose” donned a Slayer jersey, and his hair draped over his face like a latino Slash. His guitar sound was reminiscent of ZZ Top. He flailed himself around, and played with feedback throughout the set. Drummer, Capt. Moonlight was timely and very energetic. They played songs from their new album Calvary. The crowd got it. They upstaged all upcoming acts in my opinion.

Dead Rock West filled in as a mediocre, yet professional outfit. They had a great stage presence of seasoned professionals. Dressed in bright colors, they mimicked the theme of an old time variety show. They had buttered harmonies. A rooster was poised on top of an amplifier to emphasize their down home southern vibe. The group, perhaps tour weary, played on, preparing the audience for the main course, John Doe.

I recall seeing John Doe of “X” on MTV, before the channel became a “lifestyle” channel. The music and the video images had a lasting impression on my young virgin eyes and ears. The image of John Doe, frantically thumping on bass, made me love this thing called punk rock.

Decades later, John Doe is still performing. Although this time around, his music is mainly the folk rock equivalent to a supercharged electrified Dylan-by-numbers. The openers were Dead Rock West, a quintet based in southern California provided John with an eclectic musical backdrop. This made his entrance to the stage a warm and inviting experience. His delivery right at the jump was surprising to his fans. He stomped, strummed, sweat hard, and made his moves deliberate, to get his audience involved. You could still see the signature intensity and harmonies he delivered with L.A. punkers “X”. This was apparent in an alternate version of “White Girl”. Doe’s voice is in the grand scheme of the music world, truly his own. It continued in that vein on Saturday. Cindy Wasserman who has toured and recorded with Grant Lee Phillips accompanied him for the majority of the show. She complemented him, as his music and lyrics demand a balance of male, and female energies. She felt the music, but held herself back compared to the previous set with DRW. Doe played dozens of tunes from his new CD, A Year in the Wilderness, with blinding speed. At times I found myself mesmerized by Doe’s kinetic stage presence and energy that I recalled from my younger days. Other times, I felt bored to tears. One example was when Doe invited Canadian, and fellow folkie, Kathleen Edwards on stage for a duet. The down tempo tune they performed killed the high-energy vibe that had me on my feet much earlier. I wasn’t alone that night as I spotted a young fan burning her plastic wristband outside the club in protest. Artists seem to get to a point where they want to re-invent themselves musically. With time and little bit more money, artists discover new experiences and influences. As they get older, they try to challenge their musical abilities by taking on more traditional genres like folk, jazz, or even worse, prog rock.

Fortunately, John Doe has not deluded his punk origins through this transformation. All in all, the performance was enjoyable, absent the forgettable acoustic ballads. AT